Thursday, July 30, 2009

Computer problems :-(

I guess I should get a new laptop. My current one is about four and half years old, and a hard disk failure a couple of days ago is causing me lots of problems :-(. Perhaps it happened because I took it on holiday with me, so it was subjected to much more shaking and moving that usual.

Luckily I can still post to this blog from work, but I don't want to be caught blogging at work so I can't write too much. I guess I'm also lucky that I've got a boyfriend again. Online cruising as a route to satisfying one's natural urges is a bit difficult without a computer!

So at the moment I'm wondering what the most reliable laptop brand is, whether I should accept Vista or wait for Windows 7 (NB: I hate Apple!), the advantages of the new Solid State Drives versus traditional hard disk drives, etc. If any readers have any thoughts on these crucial matters then please leave comments!

12 comments:

Al said...

Come now, be objective; your distaste for Apple's [largely music industry or network imposed] practices with certain products shouldn't extend to its computer range just-so. Find one to play with; a gent of your standing shouldn't have any difficulties with that.

I've used PCs and Macs for decades; they do the same things, the latter with a little less hassle, such that the only real difference these days is in the longevity of the hardware. I have a Mac desktop from 1998; it performs as well as modern high-end PC versions, but just won't die, and I really really want it to so that I can justify a sexier new purchase.

As for their laptops, I take my Macbook Pro to tropical Asia all the time, lug it up mountains in downpours or ride with it in the back of ore transport vehicles or drop it in the sand - it just goes and goes and doesn't come with any of the issues of VISTA/XP/Windows 7 version quirks, drivers incompatibilities or viruses. I quite like some aspects of Windows, but it baffles me when people who can afford to get the best settle for such mediocrity in a computer environment.

But if you're not willing to go for the most reliable and stable laptop brand, Sony and Toshiba come very highly recommended. The former produces beautiful hardware that feels as good as it runs. Acer can look nice but tends to fall over after a few years.

Solid state drives will give better battery life, quiet running and good access times, but your HD capacity will be limited by current SSD technology, whereas a traditional notebook HD will come in at 500 Gb or more.

Anonymous said...

Totally go with an Apple. Sure there are some things about their corporate philosophy that are irksome, but they make damn good computers and products with that philosophy. My fiance has a 7 year old iBook and it still runs fine. It is now on its third owner. Apples tend to just work, without pesky things like viruses and with far less chance of crashing. And some benchmarks have shown that macs run Vista on Boot Camp better than PCs run Vista natively. And the new Macbook Pros are really good machines for a really good price.

Paul said...

My recommendation is to buy a quality laptop (Sony is good, but I have been well served by Dell) and supplement it with a cheap mini laptop with a solid-state drive to use when you are out and about. The really important thing is to buy a separate USB or network hard drive and make regular back-ups of your data.

Anonymous said...

GB will you just give apple a go. i really cant complain about them. my macbook just works. no viruses, no malware, stability.

hearing good things about windows 7 too. think if you buy now you'll get a discount upgrade when it comes out in the last quater.

but do give apple a go. stop being so principled. i think apple have worked on the basis that less is more for the consumer.

Anonymous said...

I hear that in the west (that's where you live), Dell seems to be most reliable, desired and appreciated... So that's my pick!

As for operating system, I think it's a better idea to install a stray dog's poop than to go for Vista. Hard to comment on Windows 7 since I've never seen it.

As for me, XP is the safest bet, and least frustrating...

Unknown said...

I always go for IBM thinkpad (even now it's called Lenovo thinkpad....)

Don't want to join the PC v.s. Mac discussion here, so....IF you want PC I recommend Thinkpad =)

Anonymous said...

Dammit, where did my long-winded comment go??? Shouldn't have typed it in on a PC, I guess :-)

Traditionally I'm a PC guy. Well, PC, Unix boxes, VAX... all kinds of stuff. I would never have considered a Mac because of all the 'have to buy Mac software' prejudice.

Recently (2 years ago) Hubby got a Mac laptop. It's absolutely the best computer I've ever used. Ever. Even two years down the line it's zippy, no virus issues etc.

If you're planning on using it for home use then I seriously suggest trying a Mac. If you hate it then scrap it (or sell on eBay... whatever).

When my desktop dies, I'm going Mac all the way.

PS I've had two Sony Viaos. Pretty. Light. Terrible components. The CD/DVD drives are terrible. Both had serious hard disk crashes which caused me no end of trouble.

Dell? My folks have had two. One's been good (but not great). The other was a stinking pile since Day 1 and customer support was a joke. Things change, though.

You want reliable, cool, easy to use? I'm not going to say the answer again, but I think you know what it is :-)

Hedgie said...

I love love love love my macbook pro: ther's absolutely no alternative for me!

Take your point about iTunes; I've always been suspicious but Apple is slowly moving to a more open position - and in any event spotify is about to wipe iTunes out!

Rob said...

Vista sucks ... period. Solid state hard drives are great but if you buy vista the minimum HD space you should get is 100+ GB.

Antony said...

Believe it or not my Acer laptop broke after 5 years of having it. It had got slow as well.

So I decided to buy a new one and went for the Compac brand. Never tried them before but the laptop had the biggest memory (4GB), screen (17") and hard drive (250GB) for the price (£450). Sony's equivilant was like £990.

Hugs,

A x

S said...

Get a Mac! There really isn't any thinking to do about it. My most favourite feature is the porn vault, passworded and 256bit AES encryption. Even the FBI won't get in... don't take this as a go ahead to store questionable content though ;)

Anonymous said...

There really isn't any thinking to do about it,, .

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